Top 10 World Vision must have charity gifts

This Christmas you can get innovative and think outside the traditional (gift) box with an alternative festive gift from leading international development charity World Vision.

As the UK tightens its belt this year, receiving a meaningful gift has become increasingly important and this range is guaranteed to raise a smile here, and improve someone else’s life elsewhere in a developing country.

GIFT1: £12 A Meal for 70 children – Why not economise on the office Christmas ‘do’ this year and instead purchase a relevant ‘secret Santa’ gift that will make your colleagues smile? This gift feeds 70 children in one sitting at the Battambang drop in centre for street children in Cambodia. It could be the one square meal that they get that day to help them survive in the urban jungle.

GIFT 2: £ 16 A goat – Goats will be used at a school in Senegal to improve the quality of education by offering classes in animal husbandry as well as the usual 3 R’s. The goats will provide milk for use in the school canteen and their offspring will be sold by the school to raise all-important funds for school activities.

GIFT 3: £19 Scholarship for a child – The ideal gift for the school teacher who will probably inundated with chocolates at the end of term. This gift will provide a child with some one-on-one tuition bridging lessons to get them back into full time education, and give them the basics they need to get back to school with text books, pens, exercise books and, in some cases, the school fees they may require to have a chance to return to school.

GIFT 4: £58 A Bike – With sales of bikes in one retailer jumping by 200 per cent last Christmas year in the UK, spare a thought for a child in the developing world who sometimes has to walk as far as 10 miles just to get to school. A bike in Cambodia could make all the difference to a child who needs to get to school.
GIFT 5: £29 Chickens and coup – While more and more people are turning to the urban ‘good life’ and keeping chickens in the UK, not everyone can keep and raise chickens at home. This gift is just the right thing to give to an aspiring ‘farmer’ who would like to give a bit of the good life back to a school in Senegal. This gift means they will have the opportunity to keep chickens, teach the children how to manage and look after them and create income by selling the eggs and provide eggs for the school canteen.

GIFT 6: £ 35 Bio sand water filter – A great alternative to the kitchen gadgets that usually end up gathering dust in Britain. A bio sand water filter is constructed by the overseas community themselves to filter water and remove the dirt, bacteria and contaminants that can cause people to get ill. This gift simply gives them resources they need to build an effective water filter that will help protect the water supplies for schools and health centres in Sierra Leone.

GIFT 7: £45 Llama – A must for animal lovers, this simple gift will help a farmer in Bolivia improve the quality of his herd, important since the wool from better bred llamas sells for more.

GIFT 8: £28 Plumpy nut – Instead of adding to the glut of peanuts and drinks available at parties over Christmas why not consider spending on another household in a developing community overseas? This emergency gift provides enough plumpy nut - an enriched peanut paste - to get a child suffering from malnutrition back from the brink and eating solid food again in the hunger spots of the world.

GIFT 9 - Heath bundle This bundle of gifts will have a massive impact in Somalia where World Vision is going to reach-out to the communities with healthcare training and basic equipment to make a lasting and positive impact on preventing disease, providing a safe start for babies and training skilled local professionals to further extend the reach of healthcare in remote areas. The gift consists of:

• A healthy birthing kit £24 - Enables a locally trained birthing attendant to help a woman give birth naturally, safely and hygienically. A kit like this will give a newborn child the best start possible.

• Vaccinations for two children £ 20 - Deliver protection for two children against life-threatening diseases and illnesses, which can cause permanent disability.

• Safe delivery for a baby £35 - Helping to train and equip a traditional birth attendant will mean more children are delivered safely and hygienically, protecting the health of the mother and child- giving them the best possible start in life.

• Train a community nurse £65 - Training a community nurse means that healthcare can go further in deprived regions, allowing children to be vaccinated against preventable diseases.

Gift 10 - Education Bundle This bundle of gifts will provide much more than just lessons or schoolbooks, it helps provide a future for children. Schoolbooks, nutritional meals, and equipment all help provide the next generation with everything they need to improve their lives. By including a flock of sheep for the school means that they can raise an income to further support their activities.

The gifts in the bundle are:

• School text book £8 - Give a child an education and you give them a future. Buying a textbook will open up structured learning so that children can develop their minds and prospects.

• School library book and chair £14 - Buy this gift and help successive children discover a passion for reading and expand their horizons

• School dinners £29 - Provide free meals for three children for a year, encouraging parents to send them to school and helping them to concentrate when they are there.

• Flock of sheep £120 - Breeding and keeping sheep at a school helps improve the funding for activities, lessons and nutrition. It also helps children who otherwise could not afford to attend, therefore missing out on an education for a better life.

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